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Sun, 24/03/2024 - 03:00
Has it ever been this bad before? Nope: House Republicans have skipped town for Easter recess with their base enraged, their majority in tatters — and their speaker facing the prospect of a humiliating ouster at the hands of his own MAGA allies.  Dysfunction doesn’t even begin to cover it. The Senate’s passage of a $1.2 trillion spending bill at 2 am ET — narrowly averting a government shutdown — was perhaps the least dramatic development in a historic day on Capitol Hill. In a matter of hours: The Republican-led House passed the spending bill just before noon Friday and sent it to the Senate — with more than half the House GOP conference, including many furious hardliners, voting against it. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — one of those hardliners angry at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for helping push the bill — introduced a motion to vacate the chair, calling for Johnson’s removal. Her move threatens to trigger the same type of vote that ended the career of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. Rep.
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Sun, 24/03/2024 - 02:56
11) To criticise/oppose the current mathematical modelling emphasis is to adopt an antiscience stance. It is not. Mathematics is not essential (or inessential) to science; science involves using tools that are appropriate to the given task. A science of economics is perfectly feasible, and the current emphasis on mathematical modelling in economics serves, given the […]
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Sun, 24/03/2024 - 01:30
Truthiness doesn’t care about your prescription drug plan People feel what they feel. They cannot be reasoned out of them. But feelings can be manipulated, preyed upon. Con men know this. Too often, the American left kids itself that the truth will set people free, and that our own feelings do not influence our book-learnin’. They do. In a post titled, “Fascism will not be defeated by logic,” Anand Giridharadas considers “the role of emotion in the fraught political life of America in 2024.” Change by the boatload has left Americans anxious. The Ink talked to Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) for his seeming ability “to be both in the arena and up in the stands, observing the whole scene.” Giridharadas writes: They weren’t. Neither was the country (or the world). “You don’t solve a crisis of meaning and purpose by just giving people a little bit bigger tax credit,” Murphy told The Ink (subscription required): I want to start with what you’ve said about happiness.
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Sun, 24/03/2024 - 00:00
What’s a little scaremongering among Republicans? Donald “91 Counts” Trump is feeling especially vulnerable these days. For good reason. He sees his “empire” under threat on Monday of being seized to cover his half-billion-dollar bond in the New York financial fraud case. If he does not win the presidency, conviction in his other four pending cases could mean he spends the rest of his days in prison. The harshest cut of all is the damage to an ego so fragile it requires constant media and fan attention to keep from melting down. So he and his campaign are in damage-control mode after his big mouth spit out words to the effect of his threatening Social Security and Medicare if reelected. In Trumpian “I know what you are, but what am I?” fashion, Trump issued a panicked “Truth” accusing Democrats of being the party threatening the safety net.
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Sat, 23/03/2024 - 11:00
Opossum’s are not pests, they are our friends. Support them! Mama possum with her babies 🥺 pic.twitter.com/D3ZOAEJy8n — Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 22, 2024 They are North America’s only marsupials: It’s true that wombats, wallabies, kangaroos and koalas are regular sights in national parks — if you happen to be in Australia. Australia boasts the most diverse population of marsupials in the world, with more than 200 different species roaming, climbing and hopping about the continent, out of about 334 such species worldwide. In the United States, it’s a different story. The only marsupial anywhere in the country is the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). These two- to three-foot-long mammals are the only animals north of Mexico that carry their young in pouches, a characteristic of marsupials that allows their babies to more fully grow and develop before living independently from their mothers. All other mammals have placentas, which nourish the young while still in the womb.
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Sat, 23/03/2024 - 09:30
It was a crime syndicate This has been making the rounds all week and for good reason: If you strip away Bill Barr’s corrupt interference* and Trump’s corrupt pardons, what you see is a crime syndicate masquerading as a government. Here are just some of the highlights, courtesy of Rachel Maddow. *Barr quashed referrals, nerfed sentences…pic.twitter.com/g20bVQOwW6 — Monty Boa (@MontyBoa99) March 20, 2024 Trump is a criminal. His associates are criminals. It’s obvious and yet his followers are convinced that every last one of these people is an innocent man being railroaded by “the deep state.” No wonder they are happy to send a professed billionaire their social security checks. They are the most gullible people on the planet.
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Sat, 23/03/2024 - 08:30
Let’s just make her the Queen Of All Maga and get it over with Of course she finally did it: On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to formally boot Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from the office. Greene’s move, which came amid conservative outrage over Johnson’s deal on a spending package to avert a government shutdown that passed Friday, threatens to throw the chamber into chaos just months after a hard-right faction ousted Kevin McCarthy from the top job. Due to the procedural details of the so-called motion to vacate the chair, it was unclear when exactly the vote on Johnson’s fate would be held—or if it would be held at all. Greene did not notice the resolution as privileged, a special designation that forces a vote. If and when she does, it would give House leadership two legislative days to hold a vote on the measure. However, the chamber was scheduled to leave for a two-week recess on Friday, so any vote on a motion to vacate would happen at the earliest on April 9. Speaking to reporters after filing the resolution, Greene said it was time to find a new Speaker of the House.
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Sat, 23/03/2024 - 08:30
The beltway press is very excited about the possibility that Marco Rubio might be tapped for VP (which he has said he’d be honored to accept.) Obviously Trump thinks this is going to boost his standing with Latinos and maybe he’s right. Blue collar Americans, including blue collar Latinos, do seem to like him more than they used to even though all he really did during his first term was give vast sums to rich people like himself. Anyway, maybe it will happen. Rubio is showing real talent for energetic boot licking so he may be the perfect choice. But I think this guy, who is on the short list for Attorney General could be a bit of a problem. To say the least: If the Republicans take the Senate this nut could be confirmed. Sound good?